Remotely provided open-label placebo reduces frequency of and impairment by allergic symptoms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Kube ◽  
Irving Kirsch ◽  
Julia Glombiewski ◽  
Michael Witthöft ◽  
Anne-Kathrin Bräscher

Background and Objective: Placebos being prescribed with full honesty and disclosure (i.e., open-label placebo = OLP) have been shown to reduce symptom burden in a variety of conditions. With regard to allergic rhinits, previous research provided inconclusive evidence for the effects of OLP, possibly related to a separate focus on either symptom severity or symptom frequency. Overcoming this limitation of previous research, the present study aimed to examine the effects of OLP on both the severity and frequency of allergic symptoms.Methods: In a randomized-controlled trial, patients with allergic rhinits (N=74) were randomized to OLP or treatment as usual (TAU). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, OLP was administered remotely in a virtual clinical encounter. Participants took placebo tablets for 14 days. The primary outcomes were the severity and frequency of allergic symptoms. The secondary endpoint was allergy-related impairment.Results: OLP did not significantly improve symptom severity over TAU, F(1, 71) = 3.280, p = .074, ɳ²p = .044, but did reduce symptom frequency, F(1, 71) = 7.272, p = .009, ɳ²p = .093, and allergy-related impairment more than TAU, F(1, 71) = 6.445, p = .013, ɳ²p = .083, reflecting medium to large effects. The use of other anti-allergic medication did not influence the results. Conclusions: While OLP was able to lower the frequency of allergic symptoms and allergy-related impairment substantially, its effects on symptom severity were weaker. The remote provision of OLP suggests that physical contact between patients and providers might not be necessary for OLP to work.

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria J. Silveira ◽  
Charles W. Given ◽  
Barbara Given ◽  
Ann Marie Rosland ◽  
John D. Piette

Objective: To measure the agreement between cancer patients’ and family caregivers’ perceptions of the patients’ symptom severity, and the association between changes in caregiver accuracy and changes in outcomes. Methods: Secondary analysis of baseline and 10-week follow-up data from 142 cancer patient/caregiver dyads. Patient/caregiver agreement about symptom burden was measured for the 8 most prevalent symptoms and overall. Bivariate analyses examined the patient and caregiver characteristics associated with caregivers who were overestimators, underestimators or accurate at baseline. We tested the relationship between change in caregiver accuracy and both caregiver behaviour (e.g. use of information, hours spent caregiving) and patient outcomes (e.g. total symptom severity and frequency). Results: At baseline, caregivers overestimated the severity of 17 out of 18 symptoms; 50% predicted mean symptom severity accurately. Accuracy worsened over time for 51%, stayed the same for 36%, and improved for 13%. While not statistically significant, caregivers whose accuracy improved over time had patients who reported greater declines in: symptom severity, number of symptoms, symptom interference, total symptom frequency and depression. In addition, these caregivers experienced greater reductions in their use of information and hours helping the patient. Discussion: Caregivers typically over-estimate cancer patients’ symptom burden and accuracy does not improve over time. Improving caregiver accuracy may boost the positive effects of cognitive behavioural interventions designed to improve cancer patients’ quality of life.


BMJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. e066952
Author(s):  
Annette Mollerup ◽  
Marius Henriksen ◽  
Sofus Christian Larsen ◽  
Anita Selmer Bennetzen ◽  
Mette Kildevæld Simonsen ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To determine whether positive expiratory pressure (PEP) by PEP flute self-care is effective in reducing respiratory symptoms among community dwelling adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection and early stage covid-19. Design Non-drug, open label, randomised controlled trial. Setting Capital Region and Region Zealand in Denmark from 6 October 2020 to 26 February 2021. Participants Community dwelling adults, able to perform self-care, with a new SARS-CoV-2 infection (verified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests) and symptoms of covid-19. Intervention Participants were randomised to use PEP flute self-care in addition to usual care or have usual care only. Randomisation was based on permuted random blocks in a 1:1 ratio, stratified for sex and age (<60 or ≥60 years). The PEP self-care group was instructed to use a PEP flute three times per day during the 30 day intervention. Main outcome measures Primary outcome was a change in symptom severity from baseline to day 30, as assessed by the self-reported COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) assessment test (CAT), which was adjusted for baseline values and stratification factors. Participants completed the CAT test questionnaire every day online. Secondary outcomes were self-reported urgent care visits due to covid-19, number of covid-19 related symptoms, and change in self-rated health, all within 30-days’ follow-up. Results 378 participants were assigned to the PEP flute self-care intervention (n=190) or usual care only (n=188). In the PEP self-care group, the median number of days with PEP flute use was 21 days (interquartile range 13-25). For the intention-to-treat population, a group difference was observed in changes from baseline in CAT scores of −1.2 points (95% confidence interval −2.1 to −0.2; P=0.017) in favour of the PEP flute self-care group. At day 30, the PEP flute self-care group also reported less chest tightness, less dyspnoea, more vigour, and higher level of daily activities, but these differences were small, and no consistent effects were seen on the secondary outcomes. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions In community dwelling adults with early covid-19, PEP flute self-care had a significant, yet marginal and uncertain clinical effect on respiratory symptom severity, as measured by CAT scores. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04530435 .


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 1736-1736
Author(s):  
Christen Lykkegaard Andersen ◽  
Mary Frances McMullin ◽  
Robyn M. Emanuel ◽  
Amylou C. Dueck ◽  
David Bareford ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 1736 Background: Histone deacetylase inhibition (HDACi) has shown a potent inhibitory activity on the autonomous proliferation of hematopoietic cells of PV and ET patients carrying the JAK2V617F mutation (Leukemia. 2008;22(4):740–7). Hematological responses have been recorded during treatment with the HDACi givinostat in patients with PV and myelofibrosis (Blood. 2011; 118:a1748). Additionally, combinational use of givinostat and hydroxyurea (HU) have shown encouraging clinical response in PV (Br J Haematol. 2010;150:446–55). Recent laboratory studies of vorinstat-treated JAK2V617F knock-in mice have observed normalization of peripheral blood counts, markedly reduced splenomegaly and decreased mutant allele burden (Blood 2012; 119, 3779–89). Despite this evidence of hematologic response, to date no studies have evaluated specific changes in symptom burden among PV and ET patients treated with HDACi. METHODS ET and PV patients from the UK were enrolled in a non-randomized, open-label phase II multicenter study of the HDACi vorinostat (Haematologica 2011;96(s2):a1023). Patients were asked to complete the 18 item Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Assessment Form (MPN-SAF) (Blood 2011;118:401–408), 9 item Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) (Cancer 1999;85:1186–1196) and 30 item EORTC QLQ-C30 (J Natl Cancer Inst 1993; 85(5):365-76) at enrollment, week 12, week 24, and week 36. From weeks 1 through 24, participants were given 400mg of vorinostat daily and were observed from weeks 24 to 36. RESULTS Participant Demographics and Mutational Status: 15 PV and 10 ET patients were enrolled in the study. Median age of participants was 65 and 48% of participants were female. JAK2 mutations were present in 5/10 (50%) of ET and 14/15 (93%) of PV patients. Change in Symptom Severity with Vorinostat: Although most symptom severity changes did not reach statistical significance likely due to the small sample size, individual symptoms of headache (mean 1.6 baseline to 0.5 wk 36, mean maximum improvement 0.5 from baseline), dizziness (mean 1.6 baseline to 0.9 wk 36, mean maximum improvement 0.6 from baseline), sad mood (mean 2.6 baseline to 1.9 wk 36, mean max improvement 0.2 from baseline), and bone pain (mean 2.7 baseline to 0.8 wk 36, mean max improvement 0.7 from baseline) indicated consistent reductions in severity. Change in Symptom Incidence with Vorinostat: Non-sustained reductions in symptom incidence were seen with initiation of therapy for items of dizziness (50% baseline, 43% wk12, 55% wk 24, and 38% wk 36), numbness (65% baseline, 38% wk 12, 36% wk 24, 63% wk 36), sad mood (55% baseline, 47% wk 12, 40% wk 24, 50% wk 36), and itching (65% baseline, 50% wk 12, 40% wk 24, 75% wk 36). Change in MPN-SAF TSS Score with Vorinostat: Overall, MPN-SAF TSS did not vary significantly for the cohort over the course of the study (score change −.4 week 12, −0.5 week 24, −1.2 week 36, Figure 1). However, 9/17 participants who had a TSS of at least 6 at baseline had an overall improvement of at least 6 points (a moderate improvement) on at least one assessment after baseline. Of these, 5 of those 9 participants had an improvement of at least 10 points, which constitutes a large improvement in symptom burden based on a distributional definition of clinical significance using the standard deviation from a previous cohort. CONCLUSION This study represents the first analysis of symptom burden among PV and ET patients receiving vorinostat to date. In addition to previously identified changes in clinical and hematologic response, reductions in symptom burden including QOL and fatigue were observed in patients receiving vorinostat therapy which was most noticeable in patients with high baseline burden. The toxicity profile of vorinostat also suggests that better results might have observed if individualized assessment of clinicohematological responses including an integrated a marker for response into daily clinical practice and tailoring pharmacotherapy based on side effect profile (Leukemia. 2012;26(5):1148–9). Although further investigation among larger cohorts is needed, preliminary data is encouraging for successful therapeutic use of vorinostat in a clinical setting and with possible combinational therapy to reduce symptom burden among PV and ET patients. Disclosures: Harrison: Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; YM Bioscience: Consultancy, Honoraria; Sanofi Aventis: Honoraria; Shire: Honoraria, Research Funding. Mesa:Incyte: Research Funding; Lilly: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; NS Pharma: Research Funding; YM Bioscience: Research Funding.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. S23-S30
Author(s):  
Pracheth Raghuveer ◽  
Ramdas Ransing ◽  
Prerna Kukreti ◽  
Mahesh Mahadevaiah ◽  
Wafaa Abdelhakim Elbahaey ◽  
...  

Background: Perinatal depression (PD) has important implications for maternal and infant well-being but largely goes undetected. There is a need to develop low-intensity psychosocial interventions applicable to obstetric health care facilities. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a brief psychological intervention for mild to moderate PD delivered by a nurse as compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU). Methods: This study is a randomized, open-label, parallel-group, multicentric trial being conducted in four sites of India. A total of 816 pregnant women with mild to moderately severe depression (Patient Health Questionaire-9 score of 5–19) are being assessed for the effectiveness of the intervention. Participants are randomly allocated to two groups of trial intervention (psychological intervention given by nurse) and TAU. The primary outcome is to compare the proportion of women reporting improvement across both groups. Participants are serially followed-up in each trimester and at 6, 10, 14 weeks, and 6 months postpartum. Secondary outcomes include pregnancy outcomes, feeding practices, physical growth, and immunization status of the infants. Conclusion: It is a prospective pregnancy birth cohort with a robust design and long-term follow-up. This is one of the largest studies utilizing non-specialist health workers for the screening and management of PD. This study also holds promise to cast light on the course and outcome of depression during pregnancy in different parts of India. It is envisaged to help in developing a sound screening and referral-based protocol for obstetric settings.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinjal Doshi ◽  
Stacey Lee Henderson ◽  
Qianqian Fan ◽  
Kian Foong Wong ◽  
Julian Lim

Background: Current pharmacological and behavioural treatment options for mild cognitive impairment and dementia are limited, motivating a search for alternative therapies that might slow the progression of cognitive decline in these disorders. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a cognition-focused mindfulness-based intervention in achieving this aim.Design: Open-label, three-arm randomized controlled trial, Setting: Public tertiary medical centreParticipants: Older persons (ages 45-75; N = 76) diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)Intervention: Mindfulness-based training (MBT), cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT), and treatment as usual (TAU). Participants in the intervention arms received 8 weekly 2-hour sessions delivered in a group setting and were encouraged to engage in home practice.Measurements: Primary outcomes measures of this trial were change in index scores for attention, immediate memory, and delayed memory measured using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Depression was a secondary outcome.Results: Using intent-to-treat analysis, we found that participants receiving MBT showed significant improvements in global cognition (d = 0.26; [95% CI 0.03 - 0.56]) and delayed memory (d = 0.36; [95% CI 0.17 - 0.57]), with significantly greater improvements in delayed memory than CRT (ηp2 = 0.10). However, there was no benefit of MBT over TAU. No change in depression was observed in the MBT group. Reductions in depression were associated with improvements in cognitive functioning in the MBT group only.Conclusion: Our results suggest that a cognition-focused MBT did not improve cognitive functioning in MCI patients substantially more than spontaneous reversion rates, possibly as mood symptoms were not significantly alleviated in this group.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e23160-e23160
Author(s):  
James Dickerson ◽  
Evan Thomas Hall ◽  
Surbhi Singhal ◽  
Brooke Peterson Gabster ◽  
Lidia Schapira

e23160 Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been met with a wave of excitement due to their novel mechanism. We hypothesized that this may impact how patients (via PROs) report treatment tolerability in comparison to traditional therapies. We sought to examine if there was a notable difference in PROs in blinded vs unblinded trials of ICIs. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus in August 2018 for publications with quantitative PRO data comparing ICIs to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Case series, narrative reviews, and publications lacking original data were excluded. Eligible publications were reviewed to assess if patients were blinded to the agent received, and a comparison for common PRO metrics was performed. Results: Of the 1,450 unique references identified, eight met inclusion criteria: 1 double blinded placebo-controlled trial and 7 trials where patients were aware of the assigned arm. The blinded trial had quantitative PRO data in the form of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) global health status (GHS) score and patient reported symptom burden at week 12. Most (6 of 7; 86%) unblinded trials reported the GHS at either week 12 or 15, and patient symptom burden at these time points as well (5 of 7; 71%). For the EORTC GHS, the blinded trial showed no inter-arm difference at week 12. 4 of 6 (67%) open label trials noted statistically significant differences in GHS favoring the ICI arm. For symptom burden at week 12 or 15, there was no difference found in the blinded study. In unblinded trials, there were domains where patients receiving ICIs reported a statistically significant lower symptom burden than those receiving chemotherapy: fatigue (4 of 5 trials favoring ICIs; 80%), dyspnea (2 of 5; 40%), insomnia (1 of 4; 25%), appetite loss (1 of 4; 25%), and diarrhea (1 of 5; 20%). There were no differences in pain (n = 5), nausea/vomit (n = 5), and constipation (n = 5). Conclusions: We found a trend towards more favorable reporting on common symptoms in unblinded studies of patients receiving ICIs. Our analysis is limited by the lack of available comparisons in the published literature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S248-S248
Author(s):  
Dan Siskind ◽  
Anthony Russell ◽  
Steve Kisely

Abstract Background Clozapine is associated with high rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, can counter clozapine-associated GLP-1 dysregulation. Our randomized, controlled (RCT), open-label, pilot trial of once-weekly extended-release subcutaneous exenatide or treatment as usual (TAU) for 24 weeks (n=28), found 6/14 people on exenatide achieved &gt;5% weight loss vs 1/14 receiving usual care (P = .029). Compared with TAU, participants on exenatide had greater mean weight loss body mass index (BMI) reduction, and reduced fasting glucose and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Methods We followed up CODEX trial participants at 12 months following the end of the trial. We collected information on weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, HbA1c, and use of metformin. The primary outcome of interest was change in weight. Change in these parameters from trial baseline to 12 months post endpoint and trial endpoint to 12 months post endpoint was compared between those formerly in the exenatide and TAU arms. Results There were no significant differences between baseline and 12-months post endpoint for any of the variables. Data from endpoint to 12-month follow up point showed significantly greater increases among the former exenatide group compared to the former TAU group for weight, BMI, and proportion with &gt;5% weight gain. Stratifying the dataset by whether participants were on metformin six months after the end of the trial did not alter the overall results. Discussion There were significant increases in weight and BMI in the 12 months post endpoint for the former exenatide group, however there were no significant differences in weight and BMI between baseline and 12-month post endpoint. This is in keeping with other GLP-1RA studies. This information suggests the need for continued use of exenatide among people on clozapine who have achieved weight loss.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Sarlon

BACKGROUND Patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) often experience relapses despite regular treatment with pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Further, long waiting lists and more demand than treatment capacity characterize ambulatory settings. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) proved to be effective in relapse prevention in MDD. Next, MBI in form of free mobile applications can be an effective augmentation of the treatment as usual (TAU) and can fill a gap in the ambulatory care. OBJECTIVE The aim of this randomized controlled study is to assess the effectiveness of additional MBI via mobile app on the symptom severity and stress levels, compared to TAU. METHODS A total of 140 individuals with MDD will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control condition. The intervention consists of the daily use of the mindfulness mobile application “Headspace” for thirty days (up to 10 minutes a day). The control condition will be treatment as usual. At baseline and four weeks later, the following key outcome dimensions will be assessed: self-rated (Beck Depression Inventory) and experts’ rated symptoms of MDD (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; HDRS); secondary outcome variables will be: blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate; changes in tobacco and alcohol consumption and medication as a proxy of perceived stress. RESULTS No available yet. CONCLUSIONS We hypothesize that compared to the control conditions, individuals with MDD of the mobile app-condition will have both lower self- and experts’ rated symptoms of MDD and more favorable stress-related levels. While the risk for medical events is low, the immediate benefit for participants could be a decrease of symptom severity and prevention of depressive relapse. CLINICALTRIAL Clinical Trials.gov NCT05060393. Trial Registration date 28 September 2021, retrospectively registered


BJPsych Open ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla Mayfield ◽  
Dan Siskind ◽  
Karl Winckel ◽  
Samantha Hollingworth ◽  
Steve Kisely ◽  
...  

BackgroundClozapine causes significant metabolic disturbances including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Recent evidence that reduced glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) may contribute to aetiology of clozapine-associated metabolic dysregulation suggests a potential therapeutic role for GLP-1 agonists.MethodThis open-label, pilot randomised controlled trial evaluates the effect of exenatide in clozapine-treated obese adults who have schizophrenia, with or without poorly controlled diabetes. Sixty out-patients will be randomised to once weekly extended release exenatide or treatment as usual for 24 weeks.AimsTo evaluate the feasibility of larger studies regarding methodology, acceptability, tolerability and estimate efficacy for glycaemic control or weight loss. Secondary outcomes are psychosis severity and metabolic parameters.ConclusionsThis is the first trial investigating GLP-1 agonists for glycaemic control and weight loss in clozapine-treated patients with either diabetes or obesity. Clozapine-associated obesity and diabetes with exenatide (CODEX) will provide proof-of-concept empirical evidence addressing whether this novel treatment is practical and worthy of further investigation.


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